Abstract
<i>Background:</i> Ethiopia is one of the most populous countries in Africa where only 27% of women in the reproductive age group are currently using modern family planning methods. As a result, Low family planning use remains a major public health problem in the country especially in pastoralist communities in which it was not properly utilized due to limited physical access of the population to health facilities and shortages of staffs. Only few studies assessed the situation of family planning use in pastoralist communities of Ethiopia. <i>Objective:</i> The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of family planning used and its determinants in pastoralist communities of Ethiopia. <i>Methods:</i> The study used women’s dataset from the 2011 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey. The survey sampling was designed to provide national, urban/rural, and regional representative estimates of key health and demographic indicators. This study used 2,724 married women of reproductive age group in rural pastoralist communities of Afar, Somali, Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz regions of Ethiopia. The sample was selected using a two-stage stratified cluster sampling procedure. Odds ratio along with 95% confidence interval in binary logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with family planning use. <i>Results:</i> Around one in ten (11%) of married women used any methods of family planning during the survey time. Unmet needs was 22.6% while 427 (15.7%) was attributed for spacing and 187 (6.9%) was for limiting. The total demand for family planning was only 33.6% among pastoralist women in Ethiopia. Women in the richest wealth quintile (AOR=24.28: 95% CI (13.43 - 43.90), and Muslims (AOR=0.39: 95% CI (0.27 - 0.56), residents of Gambela region (AOR=5.31:95%CI (2.81 - 10.04) and living in female headed households (AOR= 0.48: 95%CI (0.30 - 0.78) were found to be associated with family planning used. <i>Conclusion:</i> The prevalence of family planning use was low with only a third of women having the demand for family planning. Sex of household head, wealth quintile and religion and study region, were associated with family planning use. Targeted interventions should be put in place to enhance contraception.
Highlights
The growth of Sub-Saharan African population is higher due to uncontrolled fertility
A total of 2, 724 married women of reproductive age group living in rural areas of pastoralist communities were included in the survey
The contraceptive prevalence rate estimated in this study was consistent with the finding of a study conducted in Jijiga District of Ethiopian Somali region [9] and about a half of the national estimate according to the 2011 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey report [6] but higher than the semi-pastoralist Chadian population in 2004 [10]
Summary
The growth of Sub-Saharan African population is higher due to uncontrolled fertility. There is a concern that uncontrolled population growth in the sub-region will hinder the attainment of development and health goals in Africa, which rests on the assumption that fertility will decline only if the wider population adopts effective modern methods of contraception, as witnessed in other parts of the world [1,2,3]. Ethiopia is one of the most populous countries in Africa where only 27% of women in the reproductive age group are currently using modern family planning methods. Few studies assessed the situation of family planning use in pastoralist communities of Ethiopia. This study used 2,724 married women of reproductive age group in rural pastoralist communities of Afar, Somali, Gambella and Benishangul Gumuz regions of Ethiopia. Targeted interventions should be put in place to enhance contraception
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